Will iconic images recorded in the grooves of an ancient vase unite the Holy Land or rip it further apart?

THE VASE

A novel by Mark M. DeRobertis

Muhsin Muhabi is a Palestinian potter, descended from a long line of potters. His business is run from the same shop owned by his ancestors since the day his forebears moved to Nazareth. The region's conflict saw the death of his oldest son, and rogue terrorists are in the process of recruiting his youngest in their plot to assassinate the Pope and Israeli prime minister.

Professor Hiram Weiss is an art historian at Nazareth’s Bethel University. He is also a Shin Bet operative on special assignment. With the help of fellow agent, Captain Benny Mathias, he plans to destroy the gang responsible for the death of his wife and only child. He puts a bomb in the ancient vase he takes on loan from Muhsin’s Pottery Shop.

Mary Levin, the charming assistant to the director of Shin Bet, has lost a husband and most of her extended family to recurring wars and never-ending terrorism. She dedicates her life to the preservation of Israel, but to whom will she dedicate her heart? The brilliant professor from Bethel University? Or the gallant captain who now leads Kidon?

Harvey Holmes, the Sherlock of Haunted Houses, is a Hollywood TV host whose reality show just flopped. When a Lebanese restaurant owner requests his ghost-hunting services, he believes the opportunity will resurrect his career. All he has to do is exorcise the ghosts that are haunting the restaurant. It happens to be located right across the street from Muhsin’s Pottery Shop.




Monday, June 6, 2011

Next Step - An Editor!

So now that I've signed the contract from Cogito, and sent it back to them in one day mail, what's next? I remember that Virtual Tales assigned me an editor, but that didn't happen for more than a week after I sent them the signed contract. I wonder how long it will be until I start working with Cogito's editor. Well one thing is for sure. THE VASE is a lot closer to being a finished product now than it was when I signed that Virtual Tales contract. It's because not only did my manuscript go through one full editing process with a VT editor, but I put it through not one, but two more rounds of extensive revisions since then.

I have been in pretty good contact with one of Cogito's editors because their acquisions manager is also one of the editors. I hope I get to work with her, but it really doesn't matter who it is. I would think that, like VT, they will have a senior editor give it an editing round as well. At any rate, I know THE VASE is close. I fixed everything there is to fix in that last read through. Still, you never can be sure. If there is anything I've learned about the revision/editing process, it's that no matter how many times you've revised it there is always something about a manuscript that can be improved, and no manuscript is finished with the editing process until it has been published.

So if any aspiring writers are reading this, please take that last sentence to heart. KEEP REVISING YOUR MANUSCRIPT. That's how you will get it ready for publication. And it's the only way you'll make it better. And you do want it to be better. That's all.
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